Armenian View

Peace Depends Upon Security For the People of Nagorno-Karabakh

By Ambassador Rouben Shugarian

The autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh was formally placed under Azerbaijani jurisdiction by Josef Stalin in 1923, without the consent of either the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh or of Armenia itself. Since that time, Karabakh has been wholly contained within the borders of Azerbaijan and the Armenian population has suffered under the heavy hand of cultural, ethnic and economic discrimination.

In 1988, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh began petitioning Moscow for greater cultural, political and economic autonomy. This request angered Azerbaijan and touched off a violent and deadly campaign of massacres, torture, deportations and military conquests of areas populated by Armenians throughout Azerbaijan, including Nagorno-Karabakh. A blockade was imposed and maintained on Nagorno-Karabakh.

When the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Soviet constitution, which was the only international guarantee for the security of the residents of Karabakh, was abolished. The government of Azerbaijan unilaterally took legislative action to dissolve the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Given their long history of suffering from discrimination, as well as the fate of the Armenians deported from the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh have justifiable fears that without formal recognition of their separate status, they will lose all protection for their culture, language and traditions.

The Republic of Armenia has extended humanitarian, moral and diplomatic aid to Nagorno-Karabakh, and has paid a heavy price for its actions. Azerbaijan, with the assistance of Turkey, has imposed a complete blockade of railways, roads and pipelines into Armenia, devastating its economy. There is no international law which justifies Azerbaijan's blockade of Armenia.

While Armenia does have a moral and material responsibility toward the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, it does not and cannot speak on behalf of the population of Karabakh. In 1992, the Nagorno-Karabakh parliament declared an independent Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite its calls for international recognition, to date no country, including Armenia, has recognized this unilateral declaration. Armenia has sought to avoid becoming embroiled in a war with Azerbaijan begun on the pretext of its recognition of Karabakh, and believes that any attempt to determine the ultimate status of Karabakh before the establishment of a cease-fire in the region would be premature and would harm peace negotiations.

Once the cease-fire is ultimately established and negotiations between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh commenced, the Republic of Armenia will accept any peaceful solution that will be agreed upon between the direct parties to the conflict-Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The obvious imbalance in the populations of Karabakh and Azerbaijan, roughly 150,000 and 7 million respectively, diminishes the prospects of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians successfully protecting their enclave for the long term. The imbalance has also had an impact on the military tactics adopted by the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.

To avoid the uninterrupted shelling of their territory by Azerbaijani forces and to confront the enemy with their limited manpower, the Nagorno-Karabakh forces have had to create "safe corridors" around their borders. The Karabakh forces have no legal basis to retain permanent control of these territories, but have linked their withdrawal to receiving guarantees from the international community that peace-keeping forces and observers will be sent to the region to ensure the long-term security of Karabakh.

The Armenian government has made a concerted effort to petition the international community, particularly the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and the United Nations, to become actively involved in finding a peaceful solution to the conflict. Armenia has emphasized that the shortest way to peace would be a negotiated settlement involving the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Until recently, Azerbaijan staunchly refused to recognize or meet with representatives of Nagorno-Karabkah in any forum. Thus one of the most positive developments in the course of the conflict occurred just months ago when representatives of Karabakh and Azerbaijan met face-to-face for the first time. Bilateral meetings have continued since then, resulting in the negotiation of a series of cease-fires.

In February 1994, the speakers of the parliaments of Armenia and Azerbaijan held a preliminary meeting on the Armenian-Azeri border. No documents were signed, but a number of general issues, including implementation of the recent CSCE and Russian peace initiatives and Azerbaijani acceptance of a Karabakh representative in future talks, were discussed.

The Armenian government views the establishment of a cease-fire and the lifting of all blockades as the first stage of a two-step process, and believes that international guarantees must be secured to ensure a durable cease-fire. In addition, the international community must play a central role in the second stage of the negotiations to resolve the legal questions regarding the ultimate status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The U.S. and Russia must take the lead in the search for constructive ways to achieve a peaceful, negotiated settlement. The Russian government was the first to recognize the importance of bilateral talks between the two parties directly involved in the conflict, while the U.S. can help ensure that any peace settlement will be durable, enforceable and guaranteed by the international community.

Rouben Shugarian is ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United States.